Lockdown doesn’t stop big property deal

A $3 million-plus Queenstown property deal’s gone through in the past week during New Zealand’s pandemic-induced lockdown.

An expat Kiwi family, based in Singapore, has bought Gibbston’s Mt Rosa Lodge, including a pinot noir vineyard, at the Wakatipu’s eastern gateway.

The elevated, 2.46-hectare property, nestled beneath Mt Rosa, includes a three-bedroom guest wing that’s been used for a bed and breakfast operation, a two-bedroom owner’s wing, a large open-plan kitchen, dining and living room inbetween, and several outdoor living areas.

There are also about 1000 grape vines producing up to 1000 bottles of high-quality pinot noir – the winemaker’s none other than Central Otago wine pioneer Alan Brady.

Listing agent, Bayleys Queenstown’s Jessica Coburn, says the new owners have bought the property as a family home.

She explains after an original offer was declined, a pricing campaign was run in which the property was pitched at $3.3m plus GST.

That attracted two parties, she says, one she brought to the table and another, whose offer was accepted, was brought forward by a local Harcourts agent.

Coburn won’t disclose the exact purchase price.

“It was so good to get an unconditional sale in such uncertain times,” she says.

She notes a lot of enquiries are coming from expats “that are keen to come back to NZ or are purchasing something that potentially they can rent out and come back to in the next two or three years”.

“Deals are definitely still being done.

“My aim is to gain interest in listed properties during the lockdown, and once that’s lifted we’ll be able to get people through.”

Due to the lockdown, agents can’t run open homes or give private viewings, while auctions have also been scrapped.